A film about Yeghishe Charents produced by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service was premiered on November 27, the day marking the 75th death anniversary of the famous Armenian poet who died in prison in 1937 at the peak of Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge.
The full-length feature film based on the accounts of Charents’ wife Izabella tells about the last days of the poet leading to his tragic death, the brutal interrogations that he went through as well as other injustices committed against him and his family by the Soviet regime.
The suffering of one of the most beloved poets of the nation during the period of Stalin repressions reveals the inhumane face of the regime of whom Charents was perhaps the most prominent victim from amongst the Armenian artists of that time. Charents’ family, too, was condemned to suffering as his wife was jailed and exiled shortly and their two little daughters became orphans.
Charents’ poetry was banned by the Soviet authorities for many years and his image remained mostly unknown to the public at large as no movies or feature films were ever made to tell the story in the seven-and-a-half decades after the poet’s tragic death.
The Vision of Death is the first historical drama attempting to bridge the gap. At the heart of the production is RFE/RL Armenian Service Director Hrair Tamrazian, who conceived the idea and implemented it with the help of the Yerevan Bureau staff and several professional actors.
The first show of the film took place on Tuesday in prime time on ArmNews, one of the leading television channels in Armenia that is part of the PanArmenian Media Holding.
ArmNews has scheduled a rerun of the film for Saturday, December 1. The film is also due to be shown at a Yerevan movie theater. It is now also available online, at the website of RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (www.azatutyun.am) and on Azatutyun’s YouTube channel.
The full-length feature film based on the accounts of Charents’ wife Izabella tells about the last days of the poet leading to his tragic death, the brutal interrogations that he went through as well as other injustices committed against him and his family by the Soviet regime.
The suffering of one of the most beloved poets of the nation during the period of Stalin repressions reveals the inhumane face of the regime of whom Charents was perhaps the most prominent victim from amongst the Armenian artists of that time. Charents’ family, too, was condemned to suffering as his wife was jailed and exiled shortly and their two little daughters became orphans.
Charents’ poetry was banned by the Soviet authorities for many years and his image remained mostly unknown to the public at large as no movies or feature films were ever made to tell the story in the seven-and-a-half decades after the poet’s tragic death.
The Vision of Death is the first historical drama attempting to bridge the gap. At the heart of the production is RFE/RL Armenian Service Director Hrair Tamrazian, who conceived the idea and implemented it with the help of the Yerevan Bureau staff and several professional actors.
The first show of the film took place on Tuesday in prime time on ArmNews, one of the leading television channels in Armenia that is part of the PanArmenian Media Holding.
ArmNews has scheduled a rerun of the film for Saturday, December 1. The film is also due to be shown at a Yerevan movie theater. It is now also available online, at the website of RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (www.azatutyun.am) and on Azatutyun’s YouTube channel.